Great price on Low Self Discharge AAA 800mah NiMH batteries from coles for $5.60!
I bought 6 packs today from local coles.
AA 2200mah low self discharge rechargeable batteries 4 pack also available for $5.60
https://shop.coles.com.au/a/alexandria/product/coles-brand-b…
Yet the Coles batteries are rated higher by Choice magazine due to their durability in testing.
Honestly I don't trust Choice reviews. User reviews matter. This is why Eneloops or LADDAs are rated so highly because users vouch for them
I can't believe people still take any notice of Choice, TBH. They could spin their BS back in the day, but the internet has killed their "buy positive reviews" model, I thought.
What battery charger is available for these batteries?
can it be trusted?
I have had one for over a year and it works fine. Past deal posts don't have any negs.
Just a warning. I bought some of these rechargeables from coles after seeing the comments that they were like eneloop’s. My experience has been that they lose charge far faster than the ikea rechargeable batteries. In a particular appliance the coles one lasts 2 days vs 3 weeks for the ikeas. Threw mine out and replaced with batteries from ikea.
Were the batteries the same capacity? If so that suggests one of them is actually not the mAh rating they claim. Perhaps you got a bad pack. Candlepower forums tests have shown that not all batteries from the same maker perform the same. NiMHs usually reach their peak after a handful of recharges on a smart charger.
I just put the batteries in my powerex charger for testing. they were pretty much fully charged out of the box. They could of been sitting around for months, so first impression is good.
Next I will do a analysis to see the real capacity.
Woo yes please. Saves me buying a pack just out of curiosity lol.
Wondering if they are better than the "new" (crap) Aldi's.
I would like to see this too. I still have a basic smart charger :(
For anyone who's interested, I also put through some of my Coles batteries through my Powerex MH-C9000 charger/analyser. Results below:
AA (Pack 1) - Best before May 2023
| Cell | Capacity (out of pack) | Capacity (after break-in) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1900mAh | 2291mAh |
| 2 | 1940mAh | 2297mAh |
| 3 | 1741mAh | 2278mAh |
| 4 | 1877mAh | 2239mAh |
AA (Pack 2) - Best before May 2023
| Cell | Capacity (after break-in) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2272mAh |
| 2 | 2235mAh |
| 3 | 2253mAh |
| 4 | 2269mAh |
AAA - Best before May 2023
| Cell | Capacity (out of pack) | Capacity (after break-in) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 683mAh | 806mAh |
| 2 | 667mAh | 796mAh |
| 3 | 662mAh | 777mAh |
| 4 | 661mAh | 788mAh |
I also have another pack of AAA which I haven't gotten around to breaking-in yet.
Personally, I think these batteries are pretty good value given the price vs break-in capacities. A couple of the AAA cells were a touch lower than what I would have liked given the 800mAh rating, but I don't think it's significant enough to be too fussed.
I can't say much about how well these cells will keep their charge over time, and I don't really have plans on testing this as I don't think it will be significant given these are low self-discharge. With that said, if I haven't found a use for some of these cells within a month or two, I might consider doing a discharge test to get an idea on the rate of self-discharge (also depends on if anyone would be interested).
Good luck
Choice magazine rated the Coles Recharge + AA Batteries 75% which was top spot in their tests, the following is from Choice Magazine;
Good points• Excellent value for money• Ready to use and low self discharge• Continues to operate at a useful level after the 100-cycle period• Initial capacity higher than claimed minimum capacity/Bad points• Limited availability to Coles supermarkets or Coles online.
For reference the Panasonic Eneloop Pro came second 73%, Good points •Ready to use and low self discharge •Initial capacity higher than claimed minimum capacity.
•Almost two hours of use before discharging/ Bad Points•Expensive option compared to some of the other models on test.
In summary Choice is saying that the Panasonic Eneloop Pro is a slightly better battery than the Coles Recharge+ battery in all aspects of testing, but as price is taken into account the Coles Recharge+ battery won top place in this test of 12 common rechargeable batteries.
I have both batteries and use them a lot for all different things and have found them both really reliable.
Thank you, that is helpful.
No idea why anyone would pay $25 for 4x 2500mAh Eneloop Pro’s when you can buy 4x 2450mAh IKEA LADDA for $15 or 4x 2600mAh Varta for $22
Ozbargain shoppers usually stock up on the 4 pack Eneloop Pro when they are on sale for $17.50 (50% off) @ Bing Lee.
As I mentioned above, this Choice review was from at least 4 years ago and the packaging looks different so there's no guarantee that what you're buying now is the same as what they reviewed. Especially as its a private label product and you don't know who the actual manufacturer is.
@ak47wong Since the introduction of Ni-MH over Ni-Cd and "ready to use" technology into consumer rechargeable batteries, there hasn't been a lot of reason to change a good battery in many years. If you're referring to the Coles battery, one of the reasons they changed the packaging was to include a promo stating that it's AA battery had won the "Choice Recommended" award. Coles would be treading on dangerous grounds changing the battery while keeping an award planted on the front of their product. BTW there would be no good reason to change a battery that was independently tested to be the best battery anyhow!!
BTW there would be no good reason to change a battery that was independently tested to be the best battery anyhow
You'd think that, but manufacturers do change their specifications/formulas/recipes even when they're on a good thing, the main "good reason" being COST CUTTING!
Why is it $5.6 for one pack, but $12 for two? So you pay more if you buy in bulk?
Already discussed in previous comments.
Got a few sets of these for things like torches, headlamps etc. Never had an issue and they're very cost effective.
charge them at the appropriate rate with a maha charger and they last for ages.
Warning - quality and fit of these is not good.
fit? AA and AAA size are an industry standard.
They may be industry standard, but I find some rechargeable batteries are a wee bit larger than their non-rechargeable siblings. A 9v rechargeable battery I got from Aldi two years ago won't go into the smoke alarm while the alkaline 9v block fits perfectly.
There are variations in size of AA batteries of up to 1.3mm in length and 1mm in diameter and similarly for AAA. Some batteries are a very tight fit. Some might deviate from the standard by a fraction more.
Any suggested affordable chargers too charge these? or these have lower voltages then your standard batteries and can't be used in a device that normally uses normal batteries
Nitecore D4 on eBay for about $35, or D2 for 2 slots. Really good quality charger for a good price. Specs here: https://charger.nitecore.com/product/d4
Thanks ill check it out 👍
edit: nice chargers have advanced alot since decades i owned one, nice with a display 😃
Littokala is the ozbargain favourite charger.
As for voltage, it depends. Many devices will work fine on either rechargable or non rechargable batteries. NiMH cells hold 1.2v for basically their entire discharge curve, before dropping very rapidly, while alkaline start around 1.6v and gradually drop over its life. Many devices don't care (easiest way is try it). Some devices rely on the dropping voltage to tell how much charge is left (Battery indicator), so NiMH doesn't work for that part of it, but night be perfectly fine for the rest of that device's functionality.
I've been using the Coles rechargeable batteries for a around two and a half years. They have been fine so far.
I have had many of my Aldi rechargeable batteries die but I have a lot of them and only one set died in less than a year. The dead ones will charge in a dumb charger, but it's not worth the effort as they can't hold much juice once the smart charger shuns them.
I brought a few of these Coles ones back from the dead by giving them a quick hit in a dumb charger to get them off the bottom then putting them into a smart charger (the Supercheap deal that was $6). Luckily they have been able to charge in the Smart charger every time since.
I have a few of these both AAA and AA, they are ok for my son’s toys, they don’t last as long as Eneloops and Ikea one obviously. Have’d had any leaking issue and have had them for 2 years now
I stick with the IKEA rechargeables. Cheap and I've never had an issue with any of them.
they're almost double their original price. I wish I'd bought more. :(
I won't consider hold one year as low self discharge batteries. comparing to eneloop, it hold 70% after 5 years
I'd rather pay little more for quality ones since they are meant to last. VARTA ones from bunnings are pretty good
Saw someone tested the Varta one from Bunnings, they were from the States but someone from here in Aus sent them over for him to test, they didn't compare that well. Someone might have the link.
Edit, just found the guy, the Varta ones did well in this video, but the Aldi ones didn't. Must have remembered it around the wrong way.
For anyone interested choice review on the Varta they tested (were actually worst performing of all according to choice):
CHOICE Expert Rating
59%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating
Good points
• Ready to use and low self discharge.
Bad points
• Failed to hold more than half its initial capacity after only 81 recharges.
Based on that Coles looks pretty good.
Out of interest, how many of each battery brand did they test? Unless they tested half a dozen of the same battery from random batches then their test is (yet again) caveat lector/emptor.
Finished my testing on the first pack, the stated capacity of 800 is pretty on the ball accurate.
1st battery capacity 793mah
2nd battery capacity 802mah
3rd battery capacity 780mah
4th battery capacity 798mah
https://ibb.co/Yb04vBn
https://ibb.co/44YQrJ2
https://ibb.co/8rcRnqf
https://ibb.co/gSvrhcy
The AA aren't fairing as good in testing so far, out of the box they had lost about 20% of charge.
Bad start. Pack date?
LSD batteries are normally stored at 75% charge.
That's how they are supposed to be stored, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Ok … had been waiting for good deal and bought 24 aa and 8 aaa.
Cracked open one of the aa packs and they measured 1.24v - 1.26v on the multi-meter.
On charge atm in Xtar VC4 charger all seems normal / no fire or smoke.
I thought the V was a little low for an LSD battery?
Rechargable AA/AAAs are always 1.2V compared to 1.5V for non-rechargables.
Testing the voltage without any load on the battery won't really tell you much anyway.
^this
Thanks ssquid … resting voltage @ 1.4
Just for reference, I tested these (AA) in my powerex charger and got capacities of:
They did not have a lot of charge out of the packaging:
Good price for these, assuming they last. I bought the last (single) pack on the shelf at my local.
Finished testing first batch of the AAs
The stated capacity of 2200mAh is accurate
Results were
2202
2174
2222
2169
https://imgur.com/b6R3BNL
https://imgur.com/GOs39SQ
https://imgur.com/GPgzYi8
https://imgur.com/wAdKZCH
Thank you :)
Many thanks. They look the goods at least capacity wise. Doing better than the newer Aldi's already.
Confirm that this Coles-brand NiMh is better than Aldi and Chinese-made Eneloop. If you cannot not afford Japan-made Eneloop or Ikea Ladda, go for this.
Confirm that this Coles-brand NiMh is better than Aldi and Chinese-made Eneloop.
Probably correct wrt Aldi NiMHs but Eneloops? What do you base your opinion on?
Based on my own experiments over years, using the same top-range charger.
I think quality control is the issue with Chinese-made Eneloops. Half of my Chinese-made Eneloops died early and badly, but the other half still go strong.
It says unavailable online. Assume there will be stock in stores and at the same price.
If anyone's wondering, my local store had the 2 for $12 shelf tag but on checking out with two packs each of the AA and AAA, they all scanned at $5.60 each. This means there's no need to have to check out each individual pack to get the $5.60 pricing.
are these any good for solar garden lights?
I tested these coles batteries with a multimeter after charging them and out of a dozen rechargeable batteries they had the lowest voltage. It wasn't a scientific test but it was interesting that some Sanyo and eneloop batteries i have had for years had more voltage then these new Coles ones.
Voltages not under load mean very little
how would I measure the voltage under load?
can i use my dick smith charger on these?
If its designed to charge NiMH I don't see why not.
Cheap price for land fill… vote 1 for eneloops